Gavin Williamson has said that while thousands of teachers “went above and beyond” during the coronavirus lockdown there were “some that didn’t do as much.”
The education secretary told MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee today that Ofsted would be checking on schools’ remote learning provision after concerns were raised that some pupils were not being educated during the lockdown.
Mr Williamson was asked by MP Tom Hunt what role Ofsted would take in checking on pupils’ learning in the event of Covid-19 spikes leading to schools running on a rota and pupils being educated at home.
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The education secretary replied: “So many schools, hundreds and thousands of teachers went absolutely above and beyond for their pupils in terms of contact, support and everything else but there were some that didn’t do as much.
“What we need to do is continue to raise that bar, we will continue to flesh out with ever further detail about what expectations we have for schools.”
He added: “If schools aren’t delivering that in this period of time then quite simply when they are inspected by Ofsted...that will be reflected in what Ofsted does.”
Mr Williamson also said that he wanted to “thank all those teachers, all those teaching assistants and all those support staff at schools up and down the country who have just done so much.
“And actually at every stage have done everything that they can do to help children to continue to learn in these most difficult and different of times.”